Cancer Treatment Centers would have been able to screen prospective workers

Gov. Pat Quinn has vetoed a bill that would have allowed the Cancer Treatment Centers of America to not hire any workers who smoke or use other types of tobacco.

The legislation, passed by the Illinois House and Senate, would have created a waiver for for-profit companies that treat cancer patients. Cancer Treatment Centers of America, which has nearly 300 employees at its corporate headquarters in Schaumburg and about 1,000 at its Midwestern Regional Medical Center in Zion, is the only operator the rule would affect.

Privately held Cancer Treatment Centers, a fast-growing, for-profit hospital chain that just opened its sixth U.S. facility near Atlanta, sought the change after revamping its wellness program. The company was able to persuade Sen. Dan Duffy, a Lake Barrington Republican, to sponsor the legislation.

The bill would have allowed Cancer Treatment Centers to screen prospective employees for tobacco as a condition of employment. Other hospitals and employers would not be able to discriminate against tobacco users when making hiring decisions because their sole business isn't treating cancer patients.

Under state law, employers cannot discriminate on the basis of the use of lawful products, such as tobacco. Certain nonprofits, however, are exempt from the restriction so long as one of its primary objectives is to discourage the use of the product.

So, for example, the American Cancer Society, which discourages the use tobacco products, could legally test employees for the substance and restrict hiring. A spokeswoman was unable Friday to confirm whether the organization's Illinois operation made hiring decisions based on tobacco use.

While the law does not allow for other employers to test for tobacco and other legal substances, it does permit employers to charge workers who smoke more for their health, life and disability insurance policies.

Anne Meisner, the Zion hospital's president and chief executive, said the company would have applied the rule only to new employees. The roughly 6 percent of hospital workers who currently use tobacco would not have lost their jobs, she said.

A spokeswoman for the governor, however, said the bill was not written in a way that would preclude the company from dismissing current employees who smoke or use other tobacco products. Quinn also had concerns about how the testing would be administered and a lack of recourse for employees who wish to appeal a false positive, said Brooke Anderson, the spokeswoman.

"The governor is very committed to decreasing smoking to improve the health of the people of Illinois. However, this particular legislation was an overreach that could impact a citizen's right to privacy," Anderson said.

Duffy could not be reached for comment.

Cancer Treatment Center executives said the company is working with legislators to reintroduce the bill in the November and December veto session.